Changes and Challenges
by Riene
Summary: In which Chise and Elias wonder how their relationship will change when she goes to college, and Chise confesses she is interested in more than just a platonic friendship. Set between the Original Season and the College Arc.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N-** -I really didn't need another fandom in which to write stories, but this was instigated by awesome Kryss LaBryn, who sent me a story prompt (Kiss Prompt 15, Passionately). It may end up as more than one chapter, and assumes some background familiarity with the anime/manga series. I hope you enjoy it!

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College Concerns

2018 Riene

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Morning sun slanted through the window, creeping over the sill and into her eyes. Chise turned over, but the gradual lighting of the room persistently followed and finally, she opened her eyes and sat up. Ruth was gone, off early doing whatever he did outside in the first hours of the day. Probably chasing hares or rooting out trouble before it could get to Silver's garden.

One week. One week to the day now.

* * *

Elias crossed a leg over the other, and turned a page in the book he wasn't really focused on. Upstairs he'd heard the soft padding of feet, from bedroom to bathroom, and back. Soon, she would be downstairs and his day would truly begin. Ruth came trotting in, muddy and looking pleased with himself, ducking behind the sofa to avoid the Silky's disapproving stare.

He barely caught a glimpse of her, slipping out the front door.

Elias glanced at Ruth, unconcernedly stretched out on the cool floor. "Where is she going?"

"Out."

"I am aware of that. Why are you not with her?"

Ruth raised his head. "She wished to go alone, and the way is safe. She wished to walk before the heat of the day." He cocked his head, feathery black fur flowing. "Why are you worried?"

"I am not worried," he rumbled.

"You are." Ruth rested his head down on his paws. "If you sense something, you should go after her. I do not."

Elias hesitated. Chise was on his land, under his veil of protection. Nothing could harm her here. But he felt an unusual disquiet, a sensation in his chest he did not know how to define. Perhaps he would go after the girl. Perhaps she could explain it. He set the book aside and rose.

* * *

The wooden bridge over the stream was one of her favorite places on the grounds, planks worn smooth from many years of feet and hands sliding along the rails. It was a shady spot, with trees overhanging the little valley, flowers nodding their sleepy heads, and the bright splash of water flowing over smooth stones.

Autumn would be here soon, with the myriad changes of the season. Already a few stray leaves had fallen. She reached for one, dropping it into the flow below, watching as it slowly meandered away, a tiny boat on an equally tiny river.

She sensed him before seeing him, a shadow darker than the shade of the trees. "Elias?" and he rose, flowing up from between the cracks of the boards to stand beside her.

"You left the house." It was not a question.

Chise nodded. "I just...wanted to walk."

"Am I disturbing you?" She heard the worry under the rumble of his voice.

"No, of course not, sit down."

The Thorn Mage eased himself down, mimicking her position, legs awkwardly dangling over the edge of the bridge, his posture as stiff and formal as always. Chise sighed and leaned forward onto the lower railing, watching the birds flit among the trees. He said nothing, content to be with her, and after a moment Chise picked up a scrap of bark and a sprig of wood, wedging the twig like a tiny mast on her makeshift boat, and worked a leaf along it as a sail. She dropped it in the water, watching it disappear downstream.

"I have never understood the allure of sailing," Elias admitted, watching it float away.

Chise leaned her head on her arms again. "I think it's the thrill of exploring, the chance of finding the unknown. New lands, new experiences," she said absently.

"Like going away to college?"

She shut her eyes. "Yes. Like going away to college."

One week. In one week she'd take her trunk and board the train, heading an hour or more away into the city, to live again among strangers and have to find her place, alone.

"You do not have to leave, you know this."

She leaned against him, solid and reassuring. "I know. But I need to. I left school so young; I just feel like I'm behind everyone else. I don't know how I'd even have been accepted, if you and Simon hadn't helped me prepare for the exams."

"That has never mattered, here. You do not need their college to be valued," he scoffed.

"I know. But I need to do it for me. I think I need to stand on my own feet, for once. Maybe to prove myself."

Elias huffed, tightening one arm around her. One week, and he would lose her to the humans, and he would be alone again. How he dreaded the silence, the emptiness.

Once again, the taunting voices of the fairies and forest-dwellers, of Ashen Eyes and Cartaphilus echoed in his ears. _she'll leave you, find someone better, not some half-finished failure…_

His arms involuntarily tightened about her and Chise looked up, but he would not meet her eyes. She turned slightly in his arms, putting one hand against his chest. "Are you worried that I will not return, Elias? Of course I will! I'm your bride, remember?"

He looked away. "I...Chise…" He took a deep breath. "I have since learned many things, since that time I did not know. We are not...legally wed, by the laws of your land or mine. Nor should I have bought you. It is not allowable in this land of England or in your own Japan to purchase humans. Oh, it is done, but it is not legal. And you are of age now. There is no real tie between us, save for that of master and apprentice, truly. You would be free to go." His deep voice was nearly inaudible.

Chise stared at Elias, appalled. Did he no longer want her? But surely not; there was an undercurrent of grief and pain in his words. "But we're engaged, Elias." She held up her hand, the golden ring glinting in the dappled sunlight.

But the Thorn Mage shook his head. "Not really. I did not know what that meant, either, when I sought you. I did not know the meaning of bride, or love, or honeymoon. Forgive me, Chise...I spoke to you in ignorance."

She pulled away from him, kneeling to look up into the skull that served as his bony face. "What did you think it meant, then?"

He glanced down at her. "To be together forever, that I would care for you, protect you, that we would be neither one alone again."

She nodded. "It does mean all of those things, but it means love as well."

"Love."

"Yes." She tried to catch his eyes, but he was resolutely looking downstream. "Do you...do you love me, Elias?"

"What is love?" he evaded. "You seem to love many things. Your books, your friends, Silver's sticky buns, and Ruth."

Chise drew her knees up under her chin, wrapping her arms around them. In so many ways the Thorn Mage was still like a child; inexperienced, unable to define the alien world of human feelings. "There are different kinds of love," she began. "Sometimes it's casual, like when I say I love afternoon tea, or Silver's cooking, or a good book. There's a stronger love for my friends, for Simon and Stella, for Ruth and Alice, for Lindel and the dragons and Angelica. There's the love I have for my parents, too."

"But they left you," he argued.

"I can still love them," she said quietly. "And then there's...the love I have for you."

The wind sent leaves skittering across the planks of the bridge, and blew the crimson silk cover across his face. Chise pushed her hair back, but Elias did not remove the veil.

"I do not know 'love'," he said heavily, at last. "I have never been loved. Feared, yes. Shunned. But not loved. I do not know what it is." He stared ahead, his body stiff.

Chise put a gentle hand on his arm and he touched it briefly. She caught his hand, stroking his gloved fingers. "It feels very sweet and tender, protective. Like you want to be with that person forever."

He was silent, staring across the valley, and she pressed further. "Do you love anyone, Elias?"

"Sometimes when we are together, I feel a warmth in my chest. It is like a surge, and it is very strong. Is that love?"

"It could be. That's what it feels like for me, when I think of you."

"But there is also...I feel warmth elsewhere, like I want to...to eat you...but not that...as if I want to blend the two of us together somehow."

Chise blushed. "That is a type of love. It's desire, a type of...wanting. It happens between married people, people who love each other."

He turned his great head. "Do you also feel this type of love, Chise? This wanting? For me?"

"Yes? Sometimes?" _Better to be honest with him._ "I dream of you, and me, and sometimes I dream of us together."

"With me." There was an odd rumble in his chest that she could not place. "I have researched this, in my studies." Chise stared at him, surprised and a little jealous. "I do not see how this act could be accomplished, even if you truly wanted to...do that with me." He looked down, tilting his head. "I could be human?" Suddenly he was looking at her with Simon's eyes and face, and she recoiled.

"No! It would be like kissing Simon!"

"But you love him," Elias pointed out.

"Not like that! And he's a priest!"

The glamor shifted and he returned to his Fae form. "He might not mind."

"Elias, that is NOT the point!"

His earlier words came back to her. "Elias...do you still want to...to marry me? Now that you know what it means?"

He became so still she wondered if he'd even stopped breathing. "Yes."

"Good." Chise felt an overwhelming wave of relief, fighting a swell of emotion.

Elias swept back the crimson veil and pulled her into his arms. "Why are you crying?"

She burrowed against him. "Because I thought you maybe didn't...want to be bound to me in that way, now that you really know what it means."

"I do. If you still want me."

"Of course!"

"Even if it means the...physicality? We do not have to do that part."

Chise reached up, stroking his jaw, her fingers gently caressing the back of one orbital, where his red eye gleamed. "But I want to do that, too. With you. I want to kiss you, and...do other things as well."

"I am afraid I would disgust you," Elias said slowly. "I am not pleasing to look upon."

She looked at his broad torso and long, muscular body, shaking her head, bemused. "That's so not true. Nothing you do makes me afraid or disgusted."

"Do you think I am...attractive?"

"Oh yes." She paused. "Elias, may I...touch you?"

"Yes." He eyed her speculatively.

Chise slid both hands across his ribs and out across his chest, stroking and smoothing the rich brocade fabric of his black waistcoat, then carefully across the thinner fabric of his white shirt, feeling the ridges of unfamiliar muscle and hard bone under her hands. Elias watched her silently, sucking in a long breath as her questing hands rose to caress his neck.

His dark purple skin was soft, like the skin of a lizard, slightly scaly and yet smooth, warm to the touch. She stroked his neck shyly, then slowly up along the back of his skull, scratching around the base of his twisting horns, and rubbed gently at the leathery lines of his skull. Warmth pooled in her stomach. She held his head in her hands.

"Elias...I want to kiss you."

"I have no proper mouth," he murmured. His eyes were fearful and yet eager.

"We could try it," she breathed.

He froze and she leaned forward, pressing her lips to the top of his skull where she'd kissed him before, then around to his cheek, and pulled back, staring into his watchful eyes, then leaned in again, touching her lips to his muzzle, running her tongue experimentally over the thin ridge of membrane along the ridge where teeth met jaw.

Elias growled deep in his chest, surging forward, arms tightening around her, his tongue flickering out to slide across her lips and she opened to him, slanting sideways so that their mouths could meet. Chise's hands rant up his back, her short nails raking along his spine, under his coat.

The Mage's large hands spanned her body and cautiously moved further around to her chest, his palms warm against her breasts, fingers brushing carefully across her curves as he pushed up her shirt. Chise gasped, arching against his hands as he slowly rubbed circles around the lacy surface of her bra with his thumbs, feeling a surge of desire. "Elias!"

She was warm and soft against him, and there was a tightness and pressure in his body he'd never experienced. The edges of his form blurred, feathers sprouting along his back and long thorny tendrils growing, thrashing as control slipped from his mind.

He pulled back, panting, then closed his mouth over her shoulder, biting down gently, and Chise reached up, caressing the sensitive area where his skull met his neck, and he growled.

"We should stop," he muttered.

"Why?" Chise breathed, rubbing her cheek along the length of his bony head, and turning her body so that he cupped her breast again, shivering in pleasure.

"Because I don't want to stop. I want more. This feeling..." He groaned and pulled her tightly against him, shuddering.

"I want more, too," she admitted. "But perhaps you're right." She wiggled against him and looked up with a shy grin. "But I think we've just proven that "physicality" isn't going to be an issue."

"No." His red eyes gleamed down at her. "But now the waiting until you return will be much harder."

She leaned her head against his chest, pulling down her shirt. "I'll be home soon, Elias."

"Not soon enough." He lifted her in his arms, and began the walk back to their house.

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Thanks for reading, and please review. Phic authors love reviews and constructive comments!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N-** Quick reminder that this story is set between the original and college story arcs. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

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Changes and Challenges

Part 2

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Chise had returned home one humid afternoon last spring to find Simon sitting in his usual spot, looking mutinous, and Elias with arms folded, sparks glinting redly in his eyes. They'd been arguing again, she realized with a sinking feeling. Silver swept in and placed a cup before her, then walked around behind the sofa, wrapping her arms around Chise in an unexpected gesture of affection. What was going on?

Elias leaned forward and poured her a cup of tea. "We are discussing your future," he informed her in a low rumble.

Chise's eyes widened. "Shouldn't I have been here for that as well?" she asked, and felt Silver's arms tighten a bit around her.

Simon turned slightly, crossing an ankle over his knee. "How would you like to go to university, Chise? You're old enough." His voice was casual but his posture betrayed tension.

"University? Like Oxford or Cambridge or UCL?" she said carefully.

"Yes." Elias stared at her.

"Well, um, I would like to learn more, of course, but...couldn't I do that here with you?"

"It would not be until autumn," Simon said smoothly. "You would need to pass the exams, but we'll help you with that of course. Elias and I can lay out a course of study."

Chise quickly took a gulp of scalding tea, aware of the tension in the room, wincing at the pain. What should she say? Did they want her to go? She'd had so little formal schooling in her life, and hated the feeling of being stupid. Was that it? Were they embarrassed by her?

"Um...yes? I think I'd like to go," she said hesitantly.

"You would need to live there, as the train ride would be much too long for you," Elias rumbled from his shadowed corner.

"Mm," muttered the Silky in her ear, sounding displeased.

"Although you would be welcome to return on the weekends," Simon added quickly.

"I, um...okay? But where?"

"That has yet to be decided," Elias said. "We will make a decision based on what you wish to study."

Behind them in a drawer, the broken pieces of a mechanical bird lay silently.

Thus she'd found herself here, some months later, packing. She added the last item to her small and heavy trunk and closed the lid. Chise had few enough possessions; her books, a flute, the clothing Silver had made for her, the necklace from Elias, and her wand. The wand would be coming with her after all. She'd debated bringing it, but a pricking premonition made her wrap and pack it carefully.

She'd had no trouble sitting the exams mid-summer; Elias was a thorough and exacting teacher. When the long embossed envelope with her results had arrived she'd stared at it until Ruth, jumping excitedly around her, had seized it in his teeth, threatening to open it first. Simon had celebrated with her, but Elias had merely nodded and said, "I expected nothing less." She couldn't tell if she'd pleased him or not.

The Thorn Mage had been oddly distant for the last week, brusque and disappearing for hours at a time on business of his own. Hurt, Chise retreated into her own thoughts, afraid to push him and wondering if he regretted their activities by the bridge. Ruth watched with unhappy eyes but kept his own thoughts.

Chise fastened the latch and sat back on her heels. The room looked much as it had a few years ago when first she'd come here to live, barren and impersonal. Her room in the dormitory was not much better, a long narrow rectangle with a bed, desk, sink, wardrobe, and a single window. But at least it was hers and she didn't have to share.

Ruth seized the leather strap in his teeth and began tugging the trunk into the hall. Glaring, he transformed into his human form and lifted it. "Easier to carry down the stairs, right?" he said, and staggered out the door. The aroma of crisp, crackling bacon wafted through the opening. Sighing, Chise rose and went downstairs for breakfast.

The Silky had prepared an enormous breakfast with a little of everything, it seemed, and Ruth gleefully ploughed into it. Chise stared at her plate until Silver began filling it for her, frowning.

"She worries you will not eat well," Elias he with a trace of amusement, his own untouched cup of tea before him.

"Mm!" said Silver, raising her nose in the air and spooning another helping of fruit onto Chise's plate.

"I don't think I can eat anything," Chise apologized, and Elias tilted his long head.

"You must."

"I'll take what you don't want!" Ruth said hopefully, as Chise forced herself to swallow a spoonful of porridge.

"What time does the train depart?" she asked.

Elias folded his hands. "Ten. You had best hurry." Something in his flat tone made her look up.

"You are not going with me?" she asked, puzzled and a little hurt.

"No." He looked away. "I have things here to attend to. Ruth will accompany you."

"I will" he grinned. "All the way to the city!"

"Oh," Chise said, in a small voice. "That's...fine. I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Mm!" Silver glared at them both, turned her back and walked to the stove.

The Silky placed her trunk by the front door, and frowned so fiercely at Chise that she had not dared to open it again for one final check. Ruth slid the case onto a set of wheels with a handle and dragged it out onto the pathway, turning back into his canine form and bounding excitedly about the garden. _Well, one of us is happy,_ she thought.

Silver stood on the flagstone walkway, her pale face impassive. Chise hugged her tightly. "I'll miss you," she said. "Thank you for everything."

The Silky wrapped her arms around the girl and returned the hug, her vermilion eyes downcast.

Elias stood waiting by the stone wall, his back to her and long robes rippling slightly in the morning breeze. The sky was clear; it would be hot and still later. Chise approached him and he turned.

"Chise. You are ready, then?"

"Yes."

She looked up at his inscrutable face, long muzzle and bone, and wanted to fling herself into his arms and ask if he truly wanted her to leave. Instead, Chise leaned forward and gave him a quick hug. "I'll see you in a few weeks, ok, Elias?"

"Yes," he said quietly. "I will watch for you." His large hand patted her back, and then he released her. "Do not miss your train."

"Yes, come on, Chise!" Ruth wound about their legs, his long tail swirling in the breeze, then transformed back into his human shape.

With one last look up into his face, Chise lifted her rucksack and stepped onto the path. When she looked back, Elias was gone.

* * *

The first week of her university experience was difficult. Chise missed home and friends with an intensity she'd not expected. The food was adequate, but nothing like Silver's expert cooking, and the constant noise was aggravating.

Elias had insisted on her having a private room in the dormitory, even if she would only be there during the week. It was a small space, holding her single bed, a desk with bookshelves above, a wardrobe with drawers, and a sink on one wall. She'd added curtains and a small rug, a lamp by the bed, and her school supplies, but it still looked wrong, incomplete.

It lacked Ruth, and it lacked Elias.

Her next-door neighbor was another older student, a dark-haired young woman studying for an advanced degree. She'd been standing next to the door, balancing an enormous box of books and fumbling for the knob when they'd approached. Ruth, in his human form, had stepped forward to assist, but the woman had quelled him with one glance, her eyes widening. Chise attempted to introduce herself, but the woman's unfriendly stare was uncomfortable.

"Rosalie," she'd said. "I hope you don't play loud music. I have a lot of studying to do. Goodnight." Chise stammered that she didn't, and the woman had firmly shut the door in their faces.

Ruth stared after her angrily. "Can I bite her? Just a little?" he'd asked, making Chise smile through her hurt. Well, maybe she'd not be seeing much of the other woman.

They'd left her trunk and bag in the room and gone to explore the campus. The mellow stone buildings had a warm aura in the late afternoon sun, and the myriad high glass windows sparkled in the light. Students sprawled on the lawns surrounded by the ancient buildings, and Chise felt as if the stones were watching and whispering. When Ruth left with a cheery wave she'd felt utterly bereft of all friends.

She'd gone upstairs to unpack, feeling that perhaps if she set up the room it might feel a little more like home. The trunk yielded several surprises—a new pen and notebook from Simon, a wrapped packet of homemade treats and a box of tea from Silver, a pillow scented with herbs, and a heavy wooden bowl, age-worn and carved with symbols and figures around the rim from Elias. It gave off a comforting scent, and she could almost feel his gloved hands holding the object before wrapping it in a piece of silk and placing it carefully in her trunk. Chise set it gently on the desk, where she could see it and be reminded of him.

Folklore and Mythology in Pre-Christian Britain, Art History, Mathematics, Literature. The books and notebooks were neatly stacked on her desk, awaiting the sessions to begin. Only four classes for the autumn term, three months. She could do this.

Chise pulled on her new nightshirt—another gift from Silver, ruffled and embroidered with tiny flowers-and leaned against the wall behind her bed. Her room was high up, facing inward to the small quad below. It seemed a pleasant space of flowers and stone walls with an immense sundial on one wall.

She rose and stood before the windowsill, watching the moon rise over the leaded roofs of the university buildings. Below her in the quad, dark shapes seemed to skitter about the walls, but no doubt it was only the night wind blowing the sheets of hanging ivy.

She did not sleep well that first night; there was no Elias, his warm presence comforting beside her, and no Ruth, alternately lying beside her or across her feet. The ancient stone settled itself in a series of creaks and sighs, sounding more like a living being than a 13th century building.

Chise returned to her College the next morning, having successfully sought out her assorted lecture halls and meeting rooms. Everything was relatively close, easily within walking distance. She ducked through the shady archway, nodding to the gate keeper, and entered the sunlit quad, wandering the flagstone walkways. Stone benches and wrought-iron furniture were scattered on small terraces and in shady nooks, ideal for contemplative thought or meeting friends. She stopped along the north wall where hanging vines showcased a colorful riot of flowers, scarlet and fuchsia, emerald and yellow and white, and sat happily on the bench.

"Robin!" Within moments Chise was surrounded by flittering Aerials, excitedly chattering at her in their high-pitched voices. She twisted around, trying to get a good look at them.

"Hello, friends! What are you doing here?"

"We are everywhere," the Aerials informed her with pointy grins. "We have been watching for you!"

"How did you know I was here?" she asked.

"The birds told us!" The smallest Aerial did a back flip, laughing, and Chise gave up trying. It was often difficult to get a straight answer from the Aerials.

Classes began on a Monday, a whirlwind of lectures, practicums, and new experiences. Everything at the university was so different from her previous experiences with schooling; no uniforms, different faces in each lecture hall, the more leisurely speed of the day compounded with a much greater need for personal responsibility. Chise organized her days into classes, study session, homework, and time to explore the campus.

It was truly her first experience being alone, with only herself to be accountable for. She had met and made a few casual acquaintances among her fellow students, classmates from whom she could ask questions or trade notes, but no one close. The opportunity for introspection was oddly pleasant, yet she could not help the brief sting when, having written Elias that she would be spending the first weekend in town, she received only the only barest of acknowledgements.

Still, the university and environs were fascinating, with many small surprises tucked away. Formal gardens, miniature museums, intricate displays, little shops that would make perfect hunting grounds during the holiday season, small tea rooms steamy with the aroma of freshly-baked buns, the crisp snap of the air and red-gold of falling leaves littering the endless green lawns, laughing students on bicycles and sprawled on blankets, all punctuated with the occasional visit and chatter of the Aerials...yes, there was much to enjoy about her new opportunities.

* * *

Elias had not counted on the effect Chise's departure would have on his relationship with the village.

His first hint of it came with Mrs. Rogers stopped by the apothecary window to ask for a soothing syrup to rub on the gums of her teething and fussy baby. Silver had come to get him, and the visitor recoiled slightly, but forced a smile and stated her request. As Elias reached for the bottles, she looked in the window, apparently puzzled.

"Where is your assistant, the pretty little red-haired girl? Chise, I think her name is?"

Elias stiffened, but explained calmly that Chise was now in the city, attending classes at university, and the lady frowned.

"Thank you," she said, and took the small package from him. Elias watched her walk off, shaking his head.

In town he began noticing that people who had often stopped for a chat or waved a cheery hello now avoided him. The difference had been Chise, her ready smile and infectious laughter had smoothed many social situations for him. The few visitors to the house with children now left their prams and carriages beyond the garden wall, perhaps remembering the days that the Fae would take a child and leave behind a changeling.

It was an unsettling, uncomfortable feeling. There was a yearning in his chest he could put no name to, a discomfort and disquiet in the long autumn days. Elias took to roaming the forests, sleepless at night, unable to shake the feeling of being cold and of feeling shunned. Even in his Glamour he felt the heavy sense of isolation.

* * *

Late one afternoon there was a knock on the door and then Simon's blond head appeared around the corner of the study. "Elias!" he smiled. "I hope I am not disturbing you."

"No." He placed a thin leather bookmark amongst the pages and shut the volume carefully.

Simon seated himself on the sofa and leaned back. "I have not seen you in some days and thought I'd drop by."

"As you can see, I am fine." Simon frowned and gave him an appraising look at the flat tone.

"Elias, I-" Silver entered the room, carrying a polished wooden tray, a steaming pot of tea, cups, and the thin crunchy cinnamon-dusted biscuits that Simon enjoyed. He grinned up at her. "Thank you, Silver. These are my favorites."

She nodded with a faint smile and silently glided from the room. Elias poured and handed him a cup, gesturing vaguely at the plate of treats. Simon spread his napkin carefully across his lap and reached for a cookie. "How does she do this so quickly?" he asked around a mouthful of delicious buttery crumbs. "It's as if she has some kind of premonition I'm on the way. I don't suppose she'd like to work for me?"

The Silky, passing by the doorway, gave the back of Simon's head a baleful look and Elias permitted himself a brief smile. "No, she is part of our household." he said mildly. "We couldn't part with her." He took a cautious sip of tea. "What brings you here?"

"Ah, my loss," Simon said cheerfully. "I wanted to let you know I've seen Chise and she's doing well."

"Chise?"

The room grew abruptly still. In the sudden darkness, Elias' eyes glowed redly.

Puzzled, Simon stared at the Thorn Mage. "Yes. I was in the city yesterday for a meeting at the Diocesan Conference Center, and stopped by her university dorm afterwards. She was in and I asked her if she'd like to go for coffee. We had a quick chat before I had to catch the train."

There was an unfamiliar harsh tightening in his chest, and Elias pushed it away. "How is she?"

"Doing well. We talked about her classes and her studies. She's really enjoying art and music."'

"That is good to hear."

Why had he not thought of this? In his guise as a human, he would be able to walk on her campus, see her, talk to her.

Much later that night, Elias stood beside his bed, clothing discarded, the nightshirt he wore for custom's sake folded on the coverlet beside him. The mirror reflected back the same image as ever before..an enormous half-finished Being, heavy hands and clawed feet, bony skull and twisting horns, the Fae red light in his eyes. No wonder the Humans feared him. Not for the first time he shuddered away from the image. How could she bear to look at him, touch him?

His hands slid down his body, tight muscles shifting under a warm serpentine skin, and lingered, stroking himself in that area where she had caused so many strong and confusing symptoms to appear. No stranger to human and animal mating, Elias had observed many such events over the centuries, but gained no understanding thereof. Never had he felt any desire to couple, to touch and be touched, until that afternoon on the bridge, with her. And Chise...what did she feel? She had professed to want to touch him as well, but how could she, really?

Images overwhelmed him, the softness of her body, her breasts, her lips against his skin, and heat flushed, blooming throughout his form, hardening into a solid staff of desire. He wanted to...he wanted to…

...and saw himself in the mirror.

A hulking beast, eyes glinting redly, powerful and dangerous, an eater of flesh...and felt himself shrivel.

In those few moments on the bridge, he had felt himself close to losing control, had felt his body reacting to her touch, sprouting horns, ribs, the tentacles of thorns. How could he even think to touch her? He would overwhelm her, harm her, possibly crush her with his size, or worse.

Elias threw the cloak over this shoulders and departed the room in great strides, slamming the front door behind him, transforming into his other Self, running through the forest, desperately hoping for the night air to cool his thoughts.

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Thank you for reading, and please review!

~R


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